promoting American Express in business travel

making American Express a business travel thought leader

the challenge

American Express Global Business Travel is one of the world’s largest corporate travel management companies. 8020 was appointed as its retained UK agency to provide ongoing corporate and B2B pr support to the company and its separate Meetings & Events business. Our brief was to ensure American Express was positioned as an authority in industry debate and to promote the company’s products, services and other news.

the 8020 team brought valuable business travel knowledge and pr skills that made an immediate contribution.

UK PR Manager

American Express Global Business Travel

the approach

American Express produced most of its news output from the US and we worked with the company to tailor this material to the UK to increase newsworthiness. We analysed its industry research reports, such as the annual Global Business Travel Forecast, to identify UK-specific aspects, such as trends in UK air fares and hotel rates. We drafted UK-market press releases using these angles and gained prominent coverage in all key trade media. We similarly angled product and service launches to the interests of UK media and travel buyers.

To promote the business to major vertical markets, such as Oil & Gas and Financial Services, we developed tailored news and thought leadership articles, such as on the travel management needs of offshore energy personnel, undertaking our own research to create publication-ready stories.

Our role also included creative idea generation to support marketing campaigns, drafting customer case studies and award submissions, and providing remote and on-site media relations support for trade shows in the UK and continental Europe.

communications strategy

media & influencer relations

thought leadership

social media

marketing content

video PR

trade show communications

We helped American Express maintain a leading share-of-voice in business travel media, such as Buying Business Travel, The Business Travel Magazine and Conference News. We secured valuable national coverage in titles such as Financial Times, The Times and MailOnline through tailored story pitches, such as attitudes to in-flight mobile calling and the future of first-class air travel. We increased American Express’ thought leadership coverage by a factor of three, thereby enhancing its prominence and authority with travel buyers and defending its position as the UK’s third-largest travel management company.